7 ms·

The main reason why real-estate agents are a thing is because of logistics. a) The buyers want to look at multiple properties as quickly as possible; b) The s

The main reason why real-estate agents are a thing is because of logistics. a) The buyers want to look at multiple properties as quickly as possible; b) The sellers don't want to or don't have the time to be manage all of the requests for viewings. c) If there is no viewing opportunity, then the buyer might miss a good property that matches their needs or the seller might miss a buyer. The real-estate agents have a pool of properties that they manage and they can provide quick access to the properties. They meet the needs of both the buyer and the seller and increase the probability of a transaction. Of course, if you can find a way to do that without a real-estate agent, you got a breakthrough innovation. However, it's fairly difficult to crack this problem since the transaction inherently tilts towards human interactions. This is why nobody has figured out an effective way to get rid of the real-estate agents yet.

vasco 5y ago
As a seller you can do it all yourself in some countries (not sure about US). You don't need license or training, you just have to manage your time properly and book viewings after work hours. At least from my very limited experience, the only aspect that's worth paying for are nice pictures for the ads, if you can't do it yourself. The rest is posting on real estate aggregators which at least in Europe are very popular, mostly free, and for sure not 3%. Paying a percentage of the sale for what is effectively an assistant type work isn't something I recommend.
mft_ 5y ago
> a) The buyers want to look at multiple properties as quickly as possible Surely this could be optimised far beyond what (multiple different competing) real estate agents can offer, with the right tech solution? In my experience, real estate agents can be difficult to contact and schedule with in themselves; a central portal with assisted scheduling would improve things? > b) The sellers don't want to or don't have the time to be manage all of the requests for viewings. - very good point - e.g. if a seller works regular hours, viewing opportunities would be greatly limited. I guess this is (a lot of) what you pay the %3 for. - could be somewhat mitigated by better tech - the industry is slowly adopting (e.g.) 3D online house tours (partly driven by the pandemic lockdown) but there's probably lots more to be done in this area.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- fshbbdssbbgdd 5y ago
  > real estate agents can be difficult to contact and schedule with in themselves This doesn’t match my experience. Every real estate agent I ever dealt was very responsive. This makes sense for someone who is going to make five figures if a sale happens.
  - kqr 5y ago
    I used to joke with my wife that if someone ever needed someone to talk to at 3.30 AM on a Sunday, they should call a real estate agent. Those people seem to never get time off.
- monkeydust 5y ago
  3d tours being used a lot in UK by decent agents. Paired up with my Oculus quest and saved myself at least a few weekends and hundred of miles on gas , co2 through unwanted viewings.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    You don't even need VR for a good filter. When I bought my house in the mid-90s, essentially pre-Web, I can't tell you how many houses I went to check out just the interiors of that that were a quick nope for various reasons. Even Google Street View would have saved me a ton of driving.
  - DavidPeiffer 5y ago
    3d tours are amazing, but unfortunately, at least in Iowa, they're almost never used by real estate agents. There is a for sale by owner company (FSBOHomes) who charges a flat fee for marketing your house, and includes it as part of their base fee. I ended up buying and selling a house through that platform. It saved me tons of time on the buy side since it provides a great virtual walk through as well as a floor plan with dimensions. Floor plans were never available if a real estate agent posted the house.
xyzzy123 5y ago
I find it odd that no one has mentioned the interpersonal aspects / relationship aspects / sales skills here. I went through a recruiter early in my career and I believe they negotiated better than I would have on my own (based on them getting rates I did not realise were possible). Having an agent as a seller lets you outsource the grubby, sometimes grasping business of getting the best price you can, in a reasonable amount of time. For people who are naturally good at that, an agent might not be such a good deal. For some of us, especially the less "hard nosed", an an agent can be a good idea.
- zepto 5y ago
  > For people who are naturally good at that, an agent might not be such a good deal. Even for those of us who are good at it, we simply don’t have the domain knowledge an agent can bring. Understanding the history of an area, regulations, costs of getting work done, lead times, liabilities, seller/buyer psychology etc, aren’t things you can acquire overnight.

vasco 5y ago

As a seller you can do it all yourself in some countries (not sure about US). You don't need license or training, you just have to manage your time properly and book viewings after work hours. At least from my very limited experience, the only aspect that's worth paying for are nice pictures for the ads, if you can't do it yourself. The rest is posting on real estate aggregators which at least in Europe are very popular, mostly free, and for sure not 3%. Paying a percentage of the sale for what is effectively an assistant type work isn't something I recommend.

mft_ 5y ago

> a) The buyers want to look at multiple properties as quickly as possible Surely this could be optimised far beyond what (multiple different competing) real estate agents can offer, with the right tech solution? In my experience, real estate agents can be difficult to contact and schedule with in themselves; a central portal with assisted scheduling would improve things? > b) The sellers don't want to or don't have the time to be manage all of the requests for viewings. - very good point - e.g. if a seller works regular hours, viewing opportunities would be greatly limited. I guess this is (a lot of) what you pay the %3 for. - could be somewhat mitigated by better tech - the industry is slowly adopting (e.g.) 3D online house tours (partly driven by the pandemic lockdown) but there's probably lots more to be done in this area.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
fshbbdssbbgdd 5y ago
> real estate agents can be difficult to contact and schedule with in themselves This doesn’t match my experience. Every real estate agent I ever dealt was very responsive. This makes sense for someone who is going to make five figures if a sale happens.
- kqr 5y ago
  I used to joke with my wife that if someone ever needed someone to talk to at 3.30 AM on a Sunday, they should call a real estate agent. Those people seem to never get time off.
monkeydust 5y ago
3d tours being used a lot in UK by decent agents. Paired up with my Oculus quest and saved myself at least a few weekends and hundred of miles on gas , co2 through unwanted viewings.
- ghaff 5y ago
  You don't even need VR for a good filter. When I bought my house in the mid-90s, essentially pre-Web, I can't tell you how many houses I went to check out just the interiors of that that were a quick nope for various reasons. Even Google Street View would have saved me a ton of driving.
- DavidPeiffer 5y ago
  3d tours are amazing, but unfortunately, at least in Iowa, they're almost never used by real estate agents. There is a for sale by owner company (FSBOHomes) who charges a flat fee for marketing your house, and includes it as part of their base fee. I ended up buying and selling a house through that platform. It saved me tons of time on the buy side since it provides a great virtual walk through as well as a floor plan with dimensions. Floor plans were never available if a real estate agent posted the house.

xyzzy123 5y ago

I find it odd that no one has mentioned the interpersonal aspects / relationship aspects / sales skills here. I went through a recruiter early in my career and I believe they negotiated better than I would have on my own (based on them getting rates I did not realise were possible). Having an agent as a seller lets you outsource the grubby, sometimes grasping business of getting the best price you can, in a reasonable amount of time. For people who are naturally good at that, an agent might not be such a good deal. For some of us, especially the less "hard nosed", an an agent can be a good idea.

zepto 5y ago
> For people who are naturally good at that, an agent might not be such a good deal. Even for those of us who are good at it, we simply don’t have the domain knowledge an agent can bring. Understanding the history of an area, regulations, costs of getting work done, lead times, liabilities, seller/buyer psychology etc, aren’t things you can acquire overnight.